


And then there were none

by dabs_into_oblivion



Series: ASOUE post-canon [1]
Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dabs_into_oblivion/pseuds/dabs_into_oblivion
Summary: In the moments after she escapes a great battle, Violet is unable to secure her own safety or that of VFD.





	And then there were none

**Author's Note:**

> i'm having trouble with my star trek fic so thought i'd at least try to write something. yeet

When she comes to, the raft is caught in between several rocks, bumping back and forth with the tide. She pushes her hair out of her face, then searches her pockets -- no ribbon. She'll have to improvise somehow.

On closer inspection, the raft has drifted onto a coastal shelf, one that looks very much like the one Olaf's boat landed at, when Violet and Klaus were still teens and Beatrice hadn't even been born yet. Violet blames the salt wind for the tears that spring unbidden to her eyes. This is no time for crying.

An image of Kit on her raft, almost the very same, and Violet is swept up in a torrent of memories that leave her shaking. She isn't sure, it was dark and everything happened so fast, but as she was tying her raft together she  _might have_ watched her brother die. As she was piling books on top of each other she  _possibly_ saw Isadora and Duncan? Quigley? pulling Sunny to safety, only to be encircled by the gigantic body of a sea serpent. As she threw a torch into the center of the submarine,  _it's likely_ that Esmé held a knife to Beatrice's throat, staring Violet down across the flames.

She thinks of all the vile, violent, villanous things she has done to protect her family, and with a shudder realizes that this time, she has only protected herself.

Clambering down from the raft, she begins picking her way through the sharp rock interspersed with pockets of sand, wondering how long she has until high tide. Klaus would know just by looking at the position of the sun. And wouldn't you know, it's cloudy. Her feet ache, but at least she manages not to cut them open, and gradually the pointy rocks fade until the sand stretches out in front of her and she sees the village that once housed Ishmael and his followers.

But it's not the same village, not at all. Every structure has been wiped bare by wind and rain, everything human has died, and as she walks on she knows without seeing that the great tree of horseradish apples has toppled. It's true, of course, and the laboratory under its roots is also no more. Violet stands amid the ruins and tells herself at least it didn't burn. It's then that she smells smoke.

Two arms of an octopus submarine have snaked onto the coastal shelf as Violet steps onto the beach. Esmé turns, Bic lighter in hand, and stands in front of the burning raft with a smirk that only barely outshines her outfit in its unnecessary cruelty. She's wearing literal knives in her hair, thinks Violet, and then, maybe it's better that none of them saw me die.

"Darling," calls Esmé across the beach, "haven't you heard? Orphans are out, and so are volunteers."

Violet forces a smile onto her face, stepping forward. "I don't suppose you have a harpoon gun, do you?"

Esmé laughs. "But of course! And guess what. It has one harpoon left, and it has your name on it." She grins, and Violet wonders if she put Vaseline on her teeth to keep her lipstick from bleeding. She takes another step forward, then another, closing her eyes, and before she has time to think she's lying half-twisted in the sand, a searing pain spreading from her stomach through the rest of her body, and all she can think is,  _I'm sorry._

**Author's Note:**

> please comment! it would mean a lot! thank you <3


End file.
